BJP fields Ravi Shankar Prasad against sitting MP Shatrughan Sinha

Agencies
March 20, 2019

Patna, Mar 20: Putting all speculations to rest, the Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad from Patna Sahib Lok Sabha constituency against the incumbent MP Shatrughan Sinha.

This is for the first time that Prasad, a four-term Rajya Sabha member, will be contesting a Lok Sabha election.

The rebel BJP MP from Patna Sahib, Shatru, who created more enemies than friends in his party through his diatribe against Narendra Modi, continues to be in the BJP, although the saffron camp has been treating him like a ‘persona non grata’. Shatrughan is likely to be the Mahagatbandhan candidate from his home constituency.

Who is Prasad?

Incidentally, both Shatrughan and Ravi Shankar Prasad were Union ministers in Vajpayee Government. However, the two proteges of BJP patriarch L K Advani will be locking horns from their home town in 2019.

Born in Patna, Ravi Shankar Prasad is a senior lawyer who shot to fame while pleading cases against Lalu Prasad in fodder scam in the mid-90s. Son of veteran RSS leader Thakur Prasad, who was Finance Minister in Karpoori Thakur Ministry in Bihar in the 70s, Ravi Shankar was made Rajya Sabha member from Bihar in 2000 and later inducted in the Vajpayee Government as Minister of State for Coal and Mines.

Currently, he is Union Minister for Law and IT. His sister Anuradha Prasad is a veteran TV journalist and is married to Congress leader and former Union Minister Rajiv Shukla.

Resentment

Meanwhile, supporters of another claimant for the Patna Sahib constituency, RK Sinha, BJP Rajya Sabha member, have expressed their resentment over denial of ticket to Sinha and said that Kayastha groups would not support anyone other than RK Sinha. Incidentally, all three – Shatru, Ravi Shankar and RK Sinha belong to upper caste Kayastha.

Welcoming the decision, Shatru said he would contest from Patna Sahib constituency come what may. “After Holi, I will let you know which party I would represent in the ensuing polls,” said Shatru, when asked whether he would contest as an RJD candidate or Congress.

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News Network
February 17,2020

New Delhi, Feb 17: Four death row convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder will be hanged on March 3 at 6 am a Delhi court said on Monday.

The Patiala House Court on Monday issued fresh death warrants against four convicts while hearing a petition by the state and Nirbhaya's parents.

Earlier, Delhi High Court on February 5 granted a week's time to the four convicts to avail of all legal remedies available to them and said that the convicts cannot be hanged separately since they were convicted for the same crime.

A Delhi Court had earlier issued a death warrant against the four convicts -- Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta, and Mukesh Singh -- on January 7 and they were scheduled to be executed on January 22 at Tihar Jail. Later, the execution was suspended indefinitely by a Delhi court.

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News Network
February 24,2020

New Delhi, Dec 24: The Delhi Police said that a head constable was killed during clashes over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in northeast Delhi today.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Shahdara, Amit Sharma was also injured during clashes, a senior official said. Sharma suffered injuries to his head and hand. He was hospitalised and is doing fine, the official added.

Tension escalated in northeast Delhi with protesters torching at least two houses and a fire tender in the Jaffrabad and Maujpur areas, where pro and anti-CAA groups clashed for the second consecutive day on Monday and hurled stones at each other.

Violence was also reported from the Chandbagh area in Jaffrabad.

Police fired tear gas shells and also resorted to lathicharge to disperse the protesters.

According to officials, a fire tender was damaged by the protesters after it responded to a fire call in the area.

The Delhi Metro closed entry and exit at the Jaffrabad and Maujpur-Babarpur stations as an uneasy calm prevailed in the area.

"Entry & exit of Jaffrabad and Maujpur-Babarpur are closed. Trains will not be halting at these stations," the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said in a tweet.

Entry and exit were closed at the Jaffrabad metro station for over 24 hours.

Clashes broke out on Sunday evening between pro and anti-CAA groups near Jaffrabad after a large number of people protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) blocked a road, while similar sit-ins were launched in several other parts of the national capital.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has urged lieutenant governor of Delhi and the Union home minister to restore order.

Nobody should be allowed to orchestrate violence, he said.

Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal instructed the police commissioner to maintain law and order in the national capital in the wake of violence.

"Instructed @DelhiPolice and @CPDelhi to ensure that law and order is maintained in North East Delhi. The situation is being closely monitored. I urge everyone to exercise restraint for maintenance of peace and harmony," Baijal tweeted.

Delhi minister and Babarpur MLA Gopal Rai on Monday urged the people in the area to maintain peace, saying some people were purposely trying to disturb the atmosphere.

"With folded hands, I request people in Babarpur Assembly to maintain peace. Some people are purposely trying to spoil the atmosphere. I have spoken to Delhi LG and he has assured me that more policemen will be deployed to bring the situation under control," Rai said in a tweet.

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News Network
March 7,2020

New Delhi, Mar 7: No country in the world says everybody is welcome, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday, hitting out at those criticising India over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

Jaishankar criticised the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for its criticism on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, saying its director had been wrong previously too and one should look at the UN body's past record on handling the Kashmir issue.

"We have tried to reduce the number of stateless people through this legislation. That should be appreciated," he said when asked about the CAA at the ET Global Business Summit. "We have done it in a way that we do not create a bigger problem for ourselves."

"Everybody, when they look at citizenship, have a context and has a criterion. Show me a country in the world which says everybody in the world is welcome. Nobody says that," the minister said.

The external affairs minister said moving out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) was in the interest of India's business.

Asked about the UNHRC director not agreeing with India on the Kashmir issue, Jaishankar said: "UNHRC director has been wrong before.

"UNHRC skirts around cross-border terrorism as if it has nothing to do with country next door. Please understand where they are coming from; look at UNHRC's record how they handled Kashmir issue in past," he added.

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